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Stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (SMPS) may be used to amplify or supplant information available from stress electrocardiography (ECG) in directing the clinical management of patients, including the need for coronary angiography. The apparent usefulness of SMPS may depend on referral bias, the stress mode employed and the criterion for disease. We compared markers of ischaemia on quantitative planar SMPS with 201 Tl in 503 referred patients; stress was tailored to the individual patient to include exercise (n = 154), dipyridamole (n = 118) or a combination of the two (n = 231). Four angiographic criteria of increasing severity (A-D) were targeted. The fraction of the population receiving diagnostic benefit was calculated for reversible defects (RD) or lung uptake (LU) in comparison to concurrent ST depression; abnormal baseline tracings and fixed 201Tl defects were regarded as indeterminate. Decision tree induction, a computer-learning algorithm and logistic regression were also used to assess the contribution of 13 scintigraphic and other input variables. In comparison to ST depression, RD showed incremental value in 167 (33%) patients with criterion A, decreasing to 5% with criterion D; LU showed its greatest benefit (21%) with criterion D. Both scintigraphic markers were more useful with dipyrida-mole-based tests than with exercise alone. Decision trees induced at each criterion for disease showed the predominant contribution of scintigraphic results in comparison to clinical and ECG data. In conclusion, in a referred population with a frequent requirement for pharmacological stress, the clinical utility of scintigraphy can be determined by comparison of markers of ischaemia; the results will depend, however on the angiographic criterion for disease.

Renal uptake of 201Tl may have a role in screening for renal asymmetry in hypertensive patients (HP) who are referred for myocardial scintigraphy. The qualitative aspects of digitized planar images, and quantified differential renal uptake (DRU) of 201Tl were rated by comparing a simple technique (S) for outlining each kidney with an interpolative background subtracted technique (IB). These parameters were assessed in an initial series of patients by varying the length of acquisition (from 1 to 5 min), delay in acquisition (from 10 to 210 min after injection), and image preparation (nine-point smoothing). Six blinded observers rated the quality of coded images. Image quality was improved (P less than 0.01) by increasing the length of acquisition to at least 2 min, by smoothing of the images and by imaging within 2 h of 201Tl injection. Variability in quantification of DRU was suboptimal with acquisition for only 1 min and was more adversely affected with S than with IB. Clinical application of the quantitative technique was assessed in 180 HP and 32 normotensive controls. With IB, the normal range for DRU was slightly greater than for S. The two techniques were comparable in identifying abnormal cases and found 21 +/- 3% (S) and 19 +/- 3% (IB) of HP as lying outside the normal 99% confidence interval. Both quantitative techniques showed excellent agreement with renal angiography (n = 24). Furthermore, preliminary experience with surface markers and with 180 degrees tomography suggests the potential for simultaneous correction for renal depth. These data justify the use of adjunctive renal imaging during myocardial scintigraphy with 201Tl.

Stress/injection protocols developed for myocardial perfusion imaging with 201Tl may not be optimal for 99Tcm-sestamibi (MIBI), an agent with lower myocardial extraction and higher abdominal uptake; prolongation of exercise after radiotracer injection might improve these relative drawbacks of MIBI. We compared the kinetics of MIBI and 201Tl by acquiring dynamic planar images for 5-7 min after a bolus injection (n = 180 studies) with stress performed by supine bicycle exercise alone, intravenous dipyridamole or combined stress. Routine or prolonged protocols involved continuation of exercise for 1 or 2.5 min respectively after tracer appearance in the heart. Subsequently, the perfusion images obtained were categorized as normal or showing significant defects. Myocardial uptake of MIBI, normalized for injected dose, body weight and camera sensitivity, was only 40% of that for 201Tl; there were no differences based on test mode or scan result for either perfusion tracer. During the second minute after injection, the cavity/myocardial ratios, an index of blood pool activity, were elevated with MIBI by 25% when compared with 201Tl (P0.001). During the third minute, cavity activity was again higher with MIBI, but only in those subjects with abnormal scans. The prolonged exercise phase did not prevent progressive accumulation in the abdomen, but did allow cavity levels to decline before termination of exercise. The prolonged protocol may ensure that myocardial uptake of MIBI is completed during peak blood flow, and therefore is recommended for stress with exercise or with dipyridamole and exercise in combination.

An index of left ventricular contraction can be extracted from the cavitary time-activity curve of electrocardiographic (ECG)-gated myocardial perfusion scans. To assess the induction of stress-induced myocardial depression, we compared contraction indexes derived from immediate poststress and delayed 201Tl images with indexes of ventricular dilation and lung uptake in the prediction of severe coronary artery disease (defined as two or more 90% stenoses). Stress procedures were performed in 93 patients with symptom-limited supine bicycle exercise alone, and in 227 with intravenous dipyridamole, combined where possible with exercise. The immediate and delayed contraction indexes reflected left ventricular dysfunction on ventriculography (P < 0.0001), but additionally the immediate index was reduced (P < 0.0001) in severe coronary disease. Stress-induced hypokinesis was seen frequently after each of the test modes. The relationship with angiographic findings was better defined for indexes of contraction than for lung uptake or ventricular dilation (P < 0.01). The prediction of severe coronary disease was optimized by combining the poststress contraction index and lung uptake. These data support the use of ECG-gated myocardial scans in evaluating the functional consequences of stress/imaging procedures.

Early post-stress imaging with 99Tcm-sestamibi has the potential to reveal ancillary markers of severe coronary artery disease. Lung/myocardial ratios of sestamibi were assessed after pharmacologic, exercise or combined stress, and these were compared with historical controls who were stressed similarly, but imaged with 201Tl. Forty initial patients had planar imaging and correlating angiograms; pulmonary uptake for sestamibi related to severe coronary artery stenoses when measured on immediate images, started at 4 min post-stress (P = 0.04), but had a poor relationship to angiographic findings when measured on delayed clinical images. Of 180 subsequent studies, increased pulmonary uptake of sestamibi was seen more frequently (incidence = 34%) in those with abnormal tomograms compared to those with normal tomograms (incidence = 13%, P < 0.01), but appeared less frequently than on abnormal 201Tl studies (incidence = 60%). With sequential imaging for 5 min after injection, pulmonary uptake showed a greater fall with time on sestamibi studies than on matched 201Tl studies. No consistent differences were seen among the stress modalities. As an ancillary sign of haemodynamically severe disease, increased pulmonary uptake can be seen after various stress modalities, but may be more difficult to apply with sestamibi than with thallium imaging.